Sociopathic child. Consultation for educators

Sociopathy (dissocial personality disorder) is a term that has recently appeared in psychiatry and denotes a persistent disturbance of a person’s character, which complicates his social adaptation, accompanied by a disregard for foundations and norms. Literally it can be translated as “socio” - society, “pathia” - disease. Literally, sociopathy is “a social disease, a violation of relationships with people.” Sociopaths are distinguished by aggressive behavior, bad character, and inability to build relationships with others. Today, the term “sociopathy” is fashionable thanks to various films and TV series about heroes who “go beyond” social rules. During the development of domestic psychiatry and psychology, scientists used another term: “psychopathy.” Within this disorder, their types are distinguished according to different classifications, but the following characteristics remain the same:

• persistence of manifestations of violation (they do not go away);
• totality (the violation affects the entire personality as a whole, and not individual mental functions);
• violation of social adaptation.

The line separating psychopathy and sociopathy is very arbitrary. And it lies in the origin of the disorder (etiology). Psychopathy is traditionally considered more of a congenital disorder, in which there are specific features in the structure of the brain and/or disruption of biochemical and metabolic processes that cause behavioral problems. Sociopathy has more social causes in origin - a destructive family, chronic psychotrauma, deprivation of affection and care in early childhood, a distorted type of upbringing, etc.

Etiology of sociopathy

There is no consensus among doctors and scientists about why sociopathy occurs. Experts name the following causes of the disorder:

• heredity;
• mistakes in education;
• problems in society;
• copying the behavior of a person suffering from this illness: imitation of an individual who is in a close environment - family or friends.

As a rule, the reasons act in combination, “layering” on each other, so it is extremely difficult to single out one factor.

Types of Sociopaths

Individuals with dissocial disorder are divided into two types:

1. Passive.
2. Active.

The first type includes calm and silent people, characterized by good behavior due to fear of being punished. Such individuals are aware of the consequences of their actions and restrain themselves. A provoked individual of the passive type behaves very violently. This type adapts more easily to society, and psychotherapy in this case is more effective. The active type cannot restrain himself. Such people want to attract everyone's attention and are characterized by conflict, fights and aggression.

Forms of sociopathy (dissocial disorder)

The following forms of this pathology can be distinguished:

• Active sociopathy
• Passive sociopathy

This division is based on the degree of compensation for psychopathic personality traits and the ability to exist in society.

Passive form of sociopathy

The passive form of sociopathy is considered as a compensated option in which a person recognizes the power of authorities, laws, religious rules or traditions. Thanks to this, the adoption, to some extent, of social rules of behavior makes it possible for sociopaths to live in society relatively without conflict. But at the same time, they are callous and indifferent to the desires and needs of other people, whom they completely ignore and do not consider important in their lives. This also applies to family.

Thus, sociopaths are not able to attach themselves to people and do not have empathy. They do everything solely of their own free will, but with an eye on the authorities and laws to which they formally obey. In passive sociopathy, manipulation and deception are often observed without significant violation of the laws and rules of society.

Active form of sociopathy

The active form of sociopathy is an extreme degree of expression of personality traits, due to which these people cannot adapt to society. Correcting their behavior is extremely difficult and often almost impossible.

Basically, the active form of sociopathy leads to the fact that a person breaks the law and cannot build his life path without criminal episodes. Such a person can sometimes adhere to regulations and rules, but only for a short time and for the purpose of some personal gain, but most often there is complete social maladaptation.

Manifestation of sociopathy

From the moment of manifestation, sociopathy usually persists throughout the rest of life. A distinctive feature of sociopaths is considered to be destructive behavior towards the environment and towards oneself. Such people often suffer from alcoholism, drug addiction, and lead a promiscuous sex life. Individuals with dissocial disorder are unable to plan long-term. Restriction of freedom and suppression of desires are tolerated negatively by them. They may threaten others and use force. Sociopaths are excellent at manipulating other people. Since they do not understand interpersonal relationships and are not afraid to offend or hurt another person, they view others as means to obtain the desired result. Individuals with dissocial disorder always try to dominate others. What others want and feel is of no concern to them. At the beginning of communication, sociopaths leave a good impression. They can behave well and observe standards of decency as long as they feel their own benefit.

Sociopathy: symptoms, signs, causes

He doesn't love anyone

“My son was a very sociable, open child as a child. But something happened in adolescence, his character changed. Now, as an adult, he exhibits the traits of a sociopath. Rejects the norms of society, does not like people, avoids communicating with them. Tell me, please, is this personality change related to genetic predisposition? Or is it a problem of education? Svetlana Mikhailovna."

Some consider sociopathy to be sullenness, reluctance or fear of communicating with others. In fact, people who suffer from dissocial personality disorder are called sociopaths. It is characterized by a disregard for social norms, impulsiveness, aggressiveness, and a very limited ability to form attachments.

“The cause of this disorder may be a genetic predisposition,” explains psychologist Andrei Landenok. - But then sociopathy manifests itself at an early age. Such children scream a lot, often show aggression, and provoke fights.

A sociopathic child does not follow general rules; he has his own ideas about what is good or bad. He can commit acts that are particularly cruel. Such a child rarely sincerely shows tender feelings towards his parents.

Dissocial personality disorder can also be acquired, formed in the family.

— Yes, it happens: a sociable, cheerful baby changes his behavior. This happens if someone close to him constantly suppresses him, explains the psychologist. - Maybe he shows aggression, uses physical force as a method of education. Maybe the child is experiencing constant emotional pressure.

There is a third option: dissocial personality disorder may be a consequence of traumatic brain injury.

Sociopaths are characterized by destructive behavior towards the world around them or themselves. Any restrictions on freedom or infringement of desires are tolerated extremely negatively and are actively resisted. To do this, they use threats and physical force without a shadow of a doubt. People with antisocial personality disorder are excellent manipulators. Since they are unable to experience emotions, especially negative ones, and do not understand the need for interpersonal relationships, they perceive others as a way to achieve their own goals. The only acceptable option for interacting with people for them is this form: “everyone must obey me.” The feelings and desires of others are not taken into account. They do not notice the emotions of others, they do not know how to suffer and empathize.

“This disorder is very difficult to correct; it is not often that people suffering from it turn to specialists for help,” says Andrey Landenok. — In my practice there was only one such case. They see the desire to manipulate in the behavior of others. They believe that they are constantly being attacked, which is where aggression towards people arises. As soon as the sociopath understands that this is not so, that those around him sincerely love him and want to help, his picture of the world will expand significantly. And this is already good, this is already a step towards getting rid of the disorder.

Experts call the creation of a favorable atmosphere in which the child grows up as a method of preventing the occurrence of such a disorder. He should be surrounded by attention, affection and kindness. The positive example of parents is important: no abuse of power in relation to all family members, respect for the feelings of others. The child must understand the role of support in relationships between people.

To the point

Dissocial personality disorder is diagnosed when three or more specific criteria are met. This includes:

- callous indifference to the feelings of others;

- a rude and persistent position of irresponsibility and disregard for social rules and responsibilities;

- inability to maintain relationships in the absence of difficulties in their formation;

— low threshold for aggression, including violence;

- inability to feel guilty and benefit from life experiences, especially punishment;

- a pronounced tendency to blame others or put forward plausible explanations for one’s behavior, which leads the subject to conflict with society.

Nuance

According to the definition of American psychologist and psychiatrist Eric Berne, there are two types of sociopaths:

Latent or passive sociopath. Most of the time he behaves quite well, accepting the guidance of some external authority, such as religion or law, or at times becoming attached to some stronger personality, considered as an ideal (we are not talking here about those who use religion or law for direction). conscience, but about those who use such doctrines instead of conscience). These people are not guided by ordinary considerations of decency and humanity, but are simply obeying their accepted interpretation of what is written in the “book.”

Active sociopath. It is free of both internal and external delays. He may pacify himself for a while and put on a mask of integrity (especially in the presence of people who expect decent and responsible behavior from him), but as soon as such sociopaths find themselves beyond the reach of authority figures for him who demand good behavior, they immediately cease to restrain themselves.

Published 5 years, 7 months ago, April 18, 2021 6:16 pm

Published 5 years, 7 months ago, April 18, 2021 6:16 pm

Signs of sociopathy

If the disease is hereditary, then the first signs of sociopathy appear in the child in the preschool period. The symptoms of sociopathy (dissocial disorder) are expressed vividly. This is explained by the fact that a preschooler cannot understand his benefit by observing the norms and rules of good behavior. Such children lack the experience to control their impulsiveness. Therefore, their antisocial behavior is often accompanied by negative actions characterized by cruelty. They torture animals, can even kill them, and bully peers and younger children. Children's disobedience manifests itself in such actions as screaming, biting, fits of anger, running away from home, and wandering. A preschooler never demonstrates tenderness towards his family. The older the child gets, the more he learns to disguise himself, his behavioral manners become tougher, his actions become more sophisticated. If parents react incorrectly, this behavior can become even more entrenched and worsen. It is very important to develop an adequate parenting style, since childhood is the period when the child is most sensitive to social norms; he copies behavior subconsciously. This is intended by human nature. It is possible and necessary to influence the development of sociopathy and mitigate its manifestations in childhood. By adolescence, the symptoms of a personality disorder begin to “bloom”: a teenager may begin to leave home, steal, severely beat other people, demonstrate pseudo-suicide attempts in order to receive benefits from relatives. There is a very high probability of various chemical and non-chemical dependencies, etc.

The son is a sociopath

*My son is a sociopath. How can we coexist with it, what should we do now?

He is 30 years old. He studied poorly at school and often missed classes. They made a big mistake, they helped avoid the army, because... threatened that he would run away anyway. I got a job at the institute, skipped classes, passed the exams with difficulty, often after paying for it. Was expelled.

He doesn’t want to work, he looks for a job for six months, he doesn’t stay anywhere for long (but it’s always the foreman, the foreman, or the crew who are to blame). In all these years, he hasn’t brought a penny or half a loaf of bread into the house, but he climbs into the refrigerator without a twinge of conscience, with some kind of challenge (they say, he ate, I will eat, whatever you do to me). He doesn’t know how to spend what he earns wisely (and most likely, he doesn’t want to, because he has learned to manipulate his mother’s feelings masterfully: my mother will buy it when she sees me naked and barefoot), he skips everything, drinks on drink.

Violent in hops, very aggressive. Anything he doesn’t like, he destroys windows, doors, furniture, and if he gets his hands on it, even his nose. Prone to fights. Repeatedly I had to settle matters with the victims and the police. He gets from one trouble to another almost continuously, without drawing any conclusions from what was accomplished.

Doesn't listen to parents' words and advice. He lies selflessly, with or without reason, and does not admit to lying even under pressure from evidence. Cruel to people and animals. He stole, pawned both things and the passport, then demanded ransom. Prone to fraud. He doesn’t care about the feelings and interests of others, he never admits his guilt. Ruined relationships with all relatives without exception. He doesn’t know how to communicate with others: women and friends appear and soon disappear as soon as they figure him out a little bit. Irresponsible and unreliable.

As soon as you ask for help, urgent matters immediately appear. But he himself makes requests that are more like demands, constantly, and in such an insistent form that he can bite into the throat like a bulldog. Heartless, indifferent. If you’re lying sick with a fever, he won’t come over, won’t ask, won’t help.

Untidy. What he wears on the street is what he wears when he falls into bed. I clean the room myself, otherwise it will be like living in a barn. It’s almost impossible to talk to him: we see and feel everything exactly the opposite. I don’t know how you can explain common truths to an adult?! And he prefers to talk when he needs something: there is no money - “borrow”, he pawned the phone - buy it, got into a fight - the conflict was resolved, there is nothing to eat - pack your bag, shoes are leaky - repair... and urgently. But he didn’t lift a finger for others.

I had accumulated debts from banks and credit unions and, apparently, had no plans to pay them back. Nowadays we regularly have to communicate with debt collectors. We paid off two debts and gave up (we don’t have that kind of money), but like water off a duck’s back, he doesn’t lose either sleep or appetite. He leads a plant-based lifestyle: he ate, drank, walked, got drunk, overslept, slept, and then lies in front of the TV.

They forbade him to come to his grandfather, 89 years old, so he goes there not to help, not to brighten up loneliness, but to eat, to beg for money. He still walks around, and when he doesn’t open, he threatens to break down the doors, or even breaks the telephone wire so that the police cannot be called.

We live in complete hell, in a state of constant stress. Because of him, our vacation is being cancelled. My husband is a radiologist at a private diagnostic and treatment center, his working day is 10 hours, he works as hard as he can. But we can’t leave him an apartment, our pet, and a friend who lived with us last year during our departure flatly refuses to stay in the same apartment with him.

We don’t know how to live, how to communicate with him. As a mother, I’m scared that I don’t feel positive emotions towards him! He just crosses the threshold, and I feel terrible discomfort - psychological, emotional, physical (I am forced to take sedatives, cardiac and antihypertensive drugs). My husband and I have lost sleep and appetite; little makes us happy now. We go to bed and get up with the same thoughts... Sorry, perhaps chaotic. But it’s so painful, and, apparently, it’s hardly possible to change.

A child is a sociopath at school, what should I do? (2 answers)

Diagnosis of sociopathy

Only after a thorough history can a person be diagnosed with dissocial disorder. The specialist records a stable lack of unity in most activities, emotional instability, attacks of aggression and poor control of actions. Symptoms of sociopathy include:

• lack of assessment of one's behavioral manners;
• disrespectful attitude towards people;
• refusal to accept generally accepted norms and laws.

This illness differs from the following mental illnesses:

• bipolar affective disorder;
• schizophrenia;
• neurosis;
• various manias.

Examination criteria

Sociopathy can be assumed if the following manifestations are present:

• predisposition to hostility that develops into violence;
• lack of feelings of guilt and the ability to draw conclusions from one’s own negative experiences;
• indifference to the feelings of loved ones, lack of empathy;
• ignoring moral principles, social rules and norms of behavior;
• strong denial;
• avoidance of any relationships and helplessness in maintaining them;
• accusing people around you for no reason, making unfounded claims;
• The individual welcomes conflict situations, so he often creates them himself.

All of the above symptoms are not always clearly expressed, sometimes they have a partial manifestation.

Additional symptoms of sociopathy that are of great importance when making a diagnosis:

1. Predisposition to deception. An antisocial personality easily lies, manipulates people, and enjoys his actions.
2. Frequent arrests of individuals by law enforcement agencies or public charges resulting from disobedience to the country's laws and authorities, as well as moral and ethical standards.
3. Fights, protests, manifestations of irritability and aggression towards other people.
4. Committing unjustified and risky actions.
5. Involuntary antics in behavior and communication.
6. Constant irresponsible attitude towards compliance with the regime and external requirements, financial obligations (for example, work from 09:00 to 17:00).
7. Receiving joy from the discomfort caused and damage caused to others.

Sociopathic child. Consultation for educators

Tatiana Petrenko

Sociopathic child. Consultation for educators

Sociopathy is a personality disorder.

The psychological dictionary interprets sociopathy as

• dissocial personality disorder (a personality disorder manifested by persistent antisocial behavior, lack of guilt and shame, impulsivity, aggressiveness and impaired ability to maintain close relationships).

• antisocial personality disorder, manifested in gross inconsistency of a person’s behavior with accepted social norms.

• Mental and behavioral disorders.

Characteristic features of sociopathy include:

• indifference to the experiences and feelings of other people (a sociopath always gives the impression of a heartless person)

;

• gross and persistent disregard for social rules, accepted norms and responsibilities;

• inability to maintain relationships with people (but! a sociopath can easily start a relationship with a person)

;

• low ability to restrain negative emotions, oppression, despair, aggression, and sometimes violence;

• inability to feel guilt: a sociopath is not able to learn lessons from his life experiences, especially from punishments;

• a tendency to find explanations for one’s behavior, actions, thoughts or to blame others, which inevitably leads to disagreements and conflicts with society.

Sociopathy can also be characterized by constant irritability.

The most important feature of a sociopath is a low ability to interact with people around him; he does not feel a sense of attachment to either his parents or friends.

Sociopaths often interpret attachments between people as mutual manipulation. Ordinary people and things cause anger, irritation, or even aggression in such a person.

A sociopath cares only about his own needs and desires; he simply ignores those of others.

Sociopaths are unable to adhere to social norms, view them as useless, and generally ignore them. This does not mean that they are unable to assimilate social norms and act according to the rules of society: a sociopath is able to make a plausible impression on others for some time if he sees some benefit in this. But he does not feel the need to follow them, and simply his inherent impulsiveness does not allow him to do this.

There are two opinions regarding the nature of sociopathy:

• the first is disorders at the genetic level and heredity,

• second – environmental impact.

Most often the disease occurs in men. There is childhood sociopathy.

Sociopathy can occur at any age, from toddlers to teenagers. In childhood, this disorder can arise as a result of unfavorable living conditions and negative environmental influences. Improper upbringing can have a sharply negative impact on the psyche and lead to the development of sociopathy.

First of all, such a child does not follow the “general rules”

and he has his own ideas about what is good or bad.
He can brutally beat another person (most often a peer)
just because that person refused him something or did something he didn’t like; violence against animals is also common.

Unfortunately, adults sometimes start sounding the alarm quite late - for example, when a child or teenager has already done something terrible. It happens that then parents abandon their child, send him somewhere far away, or simply kick him out of the house. Meanwhile, sociopathic traits usually appear in early years.

If you notice that the baby is not behaving quite adequately, for example, showing causeless aggression, and this goes beyond simple pranks and whims, then you should not reassure yourself, expecting that everything will improve over the years, and not hesitate to contact a specialist - child psychiatrist or psychotherapist.

If a child has an obvious mental disorder and he poses a danger to others, then the parents will have to decide whether they are ready to take responsibility for him and limit his son or daughter’s contacts with the outside world throughout his life so that he does not harm other living beings. Or he will be in a special facility where they can visit him from time to time. This is not an easy choice, but you should not blame yourself for what happened: sociopathy, as a rule, is congenital.

To prevent the development of a sociopathic personality, parents need to help their child develop social intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is manifested in the fact that a person knows how to understand the emotions of people around him, knows how to sympathize with them, and provide emotional support. Thanks to this, he becomes pleasant to people. They see that they can trust him with some of their experiences, because he will understand, will not ridicule, but on the contrary, will help, not like a sociopathic child.

Social intelligence lies in the fact that a person is able to plan his future and his actions. And not just plan, but express them in words both for yourself and for others. Explain why he is doing something, what his intentions are.

A person with social intelligence knows how to critically evaluate himself, sees his own and others’ shortcomings, and can speak about them not rudely, directly, but delicately, showing his emotional intelligence.

Unfortunately, these subtle spiritual qualities are now poorly developed in children. There is a phenomenon that is called “alexithymia”

. This is the inability to express in words your desires, actions, plans.

A few tips for parenting :

• Maintain and develop a positive mood in your child towards the world and people around him. If the child feels bad. He will not be able to think well of others.

• Make it a habit to take stock at the end of the day. If a child has had a busy emotional day, he needs to free himself from negative energy through intimate conversation, maybe music, or some active games.

• Introduce your child to a variety of emotions and let them learn to recognize and describe them in themselves and others. Let him treat negative and positive manifestations equally. Without both of them, our life is impossible.

• Literature and music play a special role. It is necessary to teach how to understand musical works, describe the mood that this or that music evokes, and tell what images and pictures emerge in the imagination when listening to it. The more complex the piece, the more difficult it is to analyze the feelings inherent in the music. When reading a fairy tale or story, you need to analyze the actions and characters of the characters, how a child would behave in a given situation.

• Practice an active lifestyle for your child, let him engage in physical education and sports. Such children have much higher intellectual abilities.

• In preschool age, music, sports, art and other classes are taught in a playful way, but you still need to try to achieve some real success from the child, and not just praise him for showing up in class. At the same time, any, even the smallest, successes must certainly be encouraged, because achieving something new must come through recognizing success and developing the ability to cope with failure. The child must be explained that failure is a natural phenomenon, that it happens to any person, and when faced with failure, one should not give up.

• The level of thinking is primarily related to coordination of movement and fine motor skills. Use any finger gymnastics complex.

Fortunately, in many cases, sociopathic behavior can be corrected. Experts advise directing the destructive energy of such a child into the “right”

channel A little sociopath can grow into an outstanding athlete, artist, and musician.

Having realized himself in his field of activity, he will stop directing aggression towards the people around him and will be able to more or less adapt to the society in which he lives, although, perhaps, he will never become completely adequate.

Prevention

Since the etiology of dissocial personality disorder has not been fully studied, there are no preventive measures for this disorder. It can only be noted that sociopaths need a favorable environment. The child should feel the attention, care, affection, kindness and tender attitude of his parents. It is important that the child’s mother and father set a positive example of relationships - respect for all family members, no power or aggression. The child must understand what role people play in relationships.

Correction (treatment) of sociopathy

As mentioned above, the greatest effectiveness of correction of sociopathy is achieved in childhood. Parents are not recommended to aggressively combat sociopathic manifestations in preschoolers; it is better to immediately contact a psychotherapist or clinical psychologist to develop the most appropriate parenting strategy. Dissocial personality disorder is difficult to treat. The reason for this is the lack of ability to criticize their behavior and the reluctance of sociopaths themselves to turn to a specialist. It is difficult for a psychotherapist to establish a connection with a sociopath, which is important for proper therapy, since the client himself does not want to change anything. If the form of deviation has mildly expressed symptoms of an aggressive nature, those suffering from sociopathy can consult a specialist themselves. Usually they complain about the difference with other people, a different type of thinking, a feeling of lack of important moments in life, etc. This is an excellent therapeutic request that medical psychologists and psychotherapists at the Ember Center successfully work with, provided that the client himself is aware of the need to receive help. The Ember Center successfully works with the correction of dissocial personality disorder. Our psychotherapeutic course is aimed at strengthening family ties, observing traditions, and developing respect for laws, norms of behavior and rules.

Causes of sociopathy (dissocial disorder)

There are different theories of the emergence of personality disorders (psychopathy) and dissocial personality disorder (sociopathy) in particular.

According to many experts, the trigger point in the development of the disease is both external and internal factors.

An important factor is genetic predisposition, when mutations occur in the genome, which causes aggressive behavior and lack of empathy. These genetic changes are passed on through inheritance.

But you cannot take into account only internal factors and neglect external ones. After all, a person in the process of his development and formation as an individual is influenced by his environment and the upbringing of his parents. So, if the child was given too much attention or, conversely, left alone with himself and his problems, then there is a high probability that the genetic predisposition will be aggravated by the above behavior of parents and loved ones. In addition, a criminal environment, asocial living conditions (poverty, the need for constant survival), alcoholism or drug addiction in loved ones can play a significant role in the formation of sociopathy (dissocial disorder).

It is impossible to exclude such aggravating factors as head injuries, which these people often receive in fights, or the presence of comorbid mental illnesses.

Therefore, the causes of sociopathy should be judged comprehensively, taking into account each of the factors.

What to do if a sociopath doesn’t want to change anything, but his family suffers?

A typical situation today: the mother of a young man calls and asks him to “cure him.”
During the conversation, it turns out that several specialists and different methods have already been “tested”, and all in vain. As a rule, the leading symptom is alcoholism or drug addiction. In such situations, we recommend that the mother herself come to an appointment first and start working on herself, her experiences, her reactions. After all, the behavior of a sociopath that he shows is inextricably linked with the reactions of family members (so-called codependency). Both mother and other relatives in this case are codependent. They are subconsciously manipulated by a sociopath, participate in his “performance”, pathological life system, scenario (they can be called differently, the meaning will not change). Therefore, by changing the attitude and behavior of relatives and mothers, we will influence the behavior of the sociopath, and perhaps motivate him to seek face-to-face correction from a specialist. You can also contact us through popular messengers: